


she gave me hell, but you brought me heaven.

by bugheadsblueandgold



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Best Friends to Lovers, Bisexual Archie Andrews, Crying, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Jughead Jones, Hurt Archie Andrews, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Protective Jughead Jones, Showers, Statutory Rape, kinda sad, sad boy archie andrews
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugheadsblueandgold/pseuds/bugheadsblueandgold
Summary: Archie has trouble dealing with the aftermath of Grundy leaving, and Jughead helps him.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Jughead Jones
Comments: 2
Kudos: 100





	she gave me hell, but you brought me heaven.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Jarchie fic, but I absolutely love these two. Comments and kudos are appreciated, enjoy!! xx

The week after Grundy leaves town, Archie sits in the bathtub of his shower, letting the hot water spray onto his back as he stays curled up with his head against his knees. He tries not to think about it. Tries not to think of the green eyes that would burn into his own, or the hand against his mouth when they were in the music room. He wills himself to forget of the times it didn’t feel right, when he didn’t want it anymore. When it felt like things had gone  _ too far. _ Instead, he focuses on how he should feel lucky _ ,  _ how he would get a pat on the shoulder from his teammates on the football team for  _ getting with an older girl as pretty as she was.  _

Jughead unlocks the Andrews’ front door, hanging up his Serpent jacket on his way upstairs. His meeting had gone longer than he’d expected, and he really just wanted to go see Archie. He hadn’t seen him in the kitchen, so he figures he’s upstairs doing homework before Fred comes home from the construction site for dinner. He opens the bedroom door, breathing in the scent of what  _ home  _ was supposed to be like. Once he sees that Archie isn’t there, he processes the sound of water running in the bathroom down the hall, so he follows it, knocking twice on the door to make sure Archie’s alright. 

“Arch? You okay in there?” 

No answer. He tries again. 

“I didn’t see you in class last period, when’d you get home?” 

Nothing. 

“Archie, I need to know you’re okay,” Jughead leans his body weight against the door frame, waiting for a response that never comes. “I’m coming in,” he finalizes. Jughead turns the knob and watches the shower head shoot out water, and where he’d expect to see Archie right under it, he doesn’t. Rather, he sees the boy on the floor of the bathtub, staring at the tiled wall, eyes dull albeit a bit teary. “Hey, bud; what’s up? How long have you been in here?” he gently asks, turning off the now cold water behind his best friend before taking a seat on the dry tile beside him. 

“Don’t remember,” Archie whispers, unable to withdraw his eyes from the wall. 

“Can you stand up?” Jughead asks, and his best friend finally averts his attention to the blue eyes on the other side of the shower wall. He nods, and then takes a moment before beginning to stand up, stumbling a bit, as he was clearly in a fragile state of mind. Jughead holds him steady, ready with a towel for Archie to wrap himself in. They make it to Archie’s room, where he sits on the bed as Jughead hands him a pair of pajama pants and a henley from the dresser. 

“‘M sorry, Juggie. ‘M so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” 

“I’m so pathetic. I shoulda said no. Shoulda walked home b’myself. Shouldn’t have canceled on our road trip. I didn’t want her. I didn’t want it. I wanted you.” It doesn’t take long for Jughead to deduce that Archie’s talking about Grundy, who never fails to make his blood boil. 

“None of that was your fault. She took advantage of you. It was an abuse of power, and it was  _ so, so  _ wrong of her. She should rot in hell for what she did. I  **_hate_ ** her for what she did to you. What happened was wrong, but none of this is on you, Arch. You can’t blame yourself.” The redhead nods, a tear slipping down his face. The two sit there for a moment, the room silent except for the rain that has started to pour against the window outside. 

Jughead doesn’t process it until he feels it: Archie’s lips against his own, his best friend’s right hand brushing through his hair while his left grips onto Jughead’s shirt for dear life, afraid that as soon as he lets go everything will be ruined. It’s soft; languid, the way their tongues move together something like a perfectly choreographed dance, neither of them ever missing a step, both of them balancing each other out. “Archie…” Jughead pulls away, resting his forehead against the boys’ in front of him, taking a breath. He can still feel Archie on his lips, can still feel the tingle in his stomach and the swirl in his brain. “You’re not in the best headspace right now… I don’t want to, I  _ can’t _ , take advantage of you like this.” 

“Please, Juggie… I just want to feel something -  _ anything,  _ other than this. You make me feel good. You make me feel like if there’s a reason that someone as  _ good  _ as you are wants to touch me; to be with me, maybe I’m not as disgusting as I think I am. None of this makes sense, but you; you make sense. 

“Arch…” 

“And you deserve so much better than me, I know, and I’m a selfish piece of shit, but I think, if I get to be with you, I’m okay with being a little selfish.” 

“You’re none of those things. Not by a longshot. But as long as you want this… okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“Yeah, okay.” And to show him what he means, Jughead kisses the crown of Archie’s head, his forehead, his nose, the tears on his cheeks, and then his lips, all to make sure the boy knew that he wanted this as much as he did, how he had wanted it for so long. 

“Juggie?” Archie looks up at the raven haired boy, looking a little worn out and sleepy, making Jughead smile. “Can you just, can you hold me? Just for a lil bit?” 

“Sure, baby.” Jughead lays down on the bed and gets under the comforter, raising an arm for Archie to come find solace under. 

(He feels Archie smile against his arm as the boy falls asleep, and for once, Jughead thinks that things just might be alright.)

In the morning, Archie will wake up, and be convinced that it was all a dream until he sees the raven haired boy sleeping softly next to him, arm wrapped around his waist. He’ll turn around and kiss the boy’s shoulder to wake him up, and Jughead will smile into the kiss that comes after, the kiss against his lips. Archie isn’t sure about a lot of things, not right now, at least, but he is sure of this. Of  _ him _ . 


End file.
